TN: 2010 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray)

2010 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (2/4/2018)
Finished off the 2010 Le Mont, so decided to open this Bourg to compare side by side. Wow, the Le Mont was good, but this is at a higher level still. Tremendous intensity and depth, complexity abounds, mineral, umami, savory, everything intertwined. Delicious. (94 pts.)

Thank you for the note Alan, most encouraging. I have a three pack of the 16 coming in this week and very curious to get under the hood on that one.

Wow, thanks for the TN. All of the 2010 Huet secs have been outstanding since release. I’ve always preferred the Le Mont by a hair, but haven’t compared the three in years. All I know is I still love every bottle I open, and they seem at no risk of declining.

Cheers,
Warren

Had this last week at Statebird for my birthday, it was indeed in the zone.

This popped into my CT feed this morning.

2010 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray)

Tasted by guitarguy on 6/28/2018 & rated 83 points: So I’m going to start drinking these Huet Secs early in life. At this point oxidation is starting to impact this wine despite being in good storage. Oxidized and buy notes like a Bourdy Savignin that I do not like. This linger in the palate and really wreck what had been a very nice wine. Lime, mineral, oxidation. Really a shame that I waited so long. (122 views) Report issue, Add favorite

My educated guess is this wine has entered an awkward shut down phase when these Vouvray secs appear to be oxidized but are not. Discussed across the interwebs many times. But that doesn’t jive with the notes above. Or it’s a bad bottle. Or he/she didn’t give it enough air.

It would be a mistake to “drink them up” at this stage. Track record and odds are in Huet’s favor.

Well, since I started this thread, and it was just 5 months ago, it’s hard for me to imagine that something has changed radically in an 8 year old wine in just a few months. Sounds like bottle variation to me. I’ve found a lot of that “oxidative” character in 14s, but not in 10s.

Yeah. That’s why I wrote: “But that doesn’t jive with the notes above.” Probably a bad bottle. But I have had plenty of Touraine Chenin in that weird middle phase where they seem oxidized or just need air. It’s possible also that good bottles of the 2010s don’t go there. (I haven’t had the secs since release.)

I’ve had a 2010 Le Mont Sec open the past couple days and it’s very fresh. No oxidation at all. More on the side of – how long will it take for this to start developing any secondary character?

I’m still polishing off my 2002 Haut-Lieus, sec & demi, which are remarkably good. The sec I opened at the beginning of this week was just an engaging, fascinating wine and a pleasure to drink over several evenings.

Not to drift the thread, but adding some context with respect to aging, even in a year with a rather checkered cellaring reputation.

Check back at year 15 but no guarantees. The ‘67 sec (Le Haut Lieu I think) last year at Brad Kane’s 50th b-day party had evolved. Delicious wine.

I had a couple of glasses of the '10 CdB earlier this week. My experience mirrored Alan’s. Mine was good as ever, fresh without oxidative notes, definitely not shut down, maybe just a little woolier than my last bottle a few years ago.
When I scrolled through the CT TN’s section, it seems most liked the wine a lot, with a couple of oxidized bottles interspersed.

Cheers,
Warren

Opened another bottle, this note from the second night, which isn’t much different than the first night:

2010 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Clos du Bourg - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray (11/20/2018)
Good medium light hay in color, not picking up a lot on the nose, palate has some weight and density, with medium rich fruit, though it kind of glides along, never digging deep and really grabbing the palate, there’s a bit of saline, and moderate but adequate acidity, finish drops off a bit quickly. Nicely pleasant, but unexciting. (89 pts.)

Having had the 2010 Le Mont Sec very early in its youth I would be really surprised if that one had any risk of premox. It was so incredibly tight, tangy and acidic from the first sip to the last that to me it screamed ”bury me in the cellar and forget about me”. Of course bottle variation is a real thing so there is that.

I liked it better after release than this autumn. Maybe bottlevariation or in an awkward state but my recent bottles have been a bit “unfresh”.
I bought 2 cases of this

I bought just shy of four cases, but only have 5 bottles left. I’ll open one soon, and if it seems off, I might just bury the rest and hope for the best.

Cheers,
Warren